(7:55 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- ConAgra Foods Inc.
CAG, +0.70%
said Thursday it swung to a loss of $324.2 million, or 77 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter from a year-earlier profit of $192.2 million, or 46 cents a share. Adjusted per-share earnings fell to 55 cents from 60 cents. Net sales fell 2.8% to $4.44 billion from $4.56 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected per-share earnings of 58 cents on sales of $4.42 billion. "We are disappointed with fiscal 2014 overall, and we have a very focused sense of urgency directed toward improving our results," said Gary Rodkin, ConAgra Foods' chief executive. ConAgra said it plans to continue its $1 a share annual dividend and expects to reduce debt by about $1 billion in fiscal 2015. The food company said it expects per-share earnings to grow at a "mid-single digit rate" in fiscal year 2015, with an expected "high-single digit rate" of annual per-share earnings growth in fiscal 2016 and 2017. ConAgra shares rose 0.9% premarket.

(7:28 AM ET) (Corrects to remove adjusted EPS number that was from the year earlier) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Accenture
ACN, -0.25%
said Thursday it had net income of $881.8 million, or $1.26 a share, in its fiscal third quarter, up from $874.1 million, or $1.21, in the same period a year ago. Revenues rose 7% to $7.74 billion, above the company's expectations, as new bookings totaled $8.8 billion. The FactSet consensus was for per-share earnings of $1.21 and revenue of $7.546 billion. The consulting firm said it now expects fourth-quarter revenue of $7.45 billion to $7.70 billion. For fiscal 2014, the company is expecting revenue growth in a range of 4% to 5%. Earnings per share are forecast in a range of $4.50 to $4.54, compared with a previous range of $4.50 to $4.62. Operating cash flow is forecast at $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion. Accenture said it expects to return $3.7 billion to shareholders in 2014, through dividends and share buybacks. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade.

Marlboro maker Philip Morris cuts 2014 view

(5:19 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Philip Morris International
PM, -0.68%
has cut its full-year earnings projection for 2014, citing unfavorable currency impacts and price discounting in Australia. Diluted earnings per share for 2014 are now forecast to be in a range of $4.87 to $4.97, compared with the range of $5.09 to $5.19 given on May 7 by the tobacco maker. "We continue to face significant currency headwinds, an improving but weak macro-economic environment in the EU and known challenges in Asia, partly offset by a robust performance in a number of markets and the contribution of our business development initiatives," Philip Morris's Chief Executive Andre Calantzopoulos said in a statement on Thursday. "Furthermore, we have recently witnessed significant price discounting at the low end of the market in Australia." Philip Morris, which is holding a two-day investor meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, also said it expects to take a pretax charge of about $495 million, or 24 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2014 as a result of halting cigarette production at a factory in the Netherlands.

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